Silver Night
by freebird7797
Summary: She didn't need this. She didn't need this or want this. She didn't need this at all in her life. Yet, here she is, daydreaming of things that'll never come to be. Daydreaming of someone she'll more than likely never have. Daydreaming of what couldn't be. Why oh why did she have to begin crushing on just barely a friend of all people? { A Persona 5 fanfic }
1. Prologue

"Really now? I thought you wanted to lay low with the parties after last time?" She holds her cheek in her hand, an eyebrow raised at her best friend's statement. After everything that happened she can't believe he'd want to throw another party, impending birthday or not.

"C'mon," he starts up again, his gaze pleading to hear him out. "I'll be turning eighteen and that only happens once. If it makes you feel any better it'll be at friend's place this time."

She shakes her head, her approval nonexistent. "That doesn't change the fact that you could still get caught." When he opens his mouth to protest she raises a hand and speaks over him. "I know you're excited, I am too, but think rationally. Your last party nearly amounted to you getting arrested. If your mother wasn't a part of the police you would've gone to juvie. To _juvie_ , Koda."

"I know, I know," he grumbles, looking away from his friend. She can't help but to feel satisfaction the moment he displays remorse. Though she doesn't like chastising her closest friend she'd rather not see him getting hauled off to juvie for his stupid mistakes. Her care for him runs deeply, heavily rooted through their long lasting friendship. When he looks back at her she doesn't miss how subdued he's become. "I still want to have the party, but I'll make sure there's nothing illegal going on this time. My friends will be disappointed but I'd much rather chance losing them than you."

That gets her to smile, as she is proud of his decision. Koda smiles back at her, clearly pleased now that she's also pleased. "Thank you, Koa."

"Anything for you, Hana Mana," he throws back, a twinkle in his soft eyes. "So," she can tell he's about to change the topic as he leans forward and mimics her posture, "what do you have planned tomorrow? I wanted to run some lyrics by you today, but I forgot my notebook at home. Think we can do that tomorrow if you're free?"

Hana's cheery expression falls into a sheepish one. "Sorry, Koa, but I have other—"

The sudden screeching of tires interrupts her sentence. Both Koda and Hana turn their gazes towards the noise, only registering what's happening the moment glass flies everywhere and a loud crash sounds.

Gasping, Hana reels back while Koda falls out of his chair. Others cry out around the same time Hana does, all eyes staring in shock at the smoking vehicle embedded slightly in a building some yards away. A scream then rings out, finally snapping others from their shock. People race forward, including Hana herself, to get a better look at what's going on.

By the time Hana makes it over to the scene, others have begun to gather. Voices flit about, most raised with worry while others try to speculate what's going on. Due to her height she can get a full view of what's happening from behind the crowd.

Just as she saw, a car had crashed into a storefront. The car is more damaged than the building, it's whole front crushed into the impacted wall. As her eyes move to where the driver was seated one of her hands come up to stifle an incoming scream. Someone has dragged the driver out of the car and the sight of the person is horrific.

"Hana," Koda calls out to her. She doesn't hear him as she is instead fixated on the sight before her. Most have already looked away, but something keeps her from doing the same. "Hana!"

She doesn't even realize she's crying until she's spun around and pulled into a tight embrace. Emotion has swiftly risen up—even if she doesn't know the driver she still can't help but to cry for them. As she cries Koda gently soothes her to the best of his ability, talking quietly to others when they ask if Hana is all right. When her crying lessens he begins to slowly move her away from the scene.

"C'mon, I'll take you home," he tells her, an arm around her shoulders. Just as he begins to lead her away at a quicker pace is when sirens begin to blare. Cops and a ambulance begin to swarm the accident, but the two friends pay them no mind. Koda is too focused on his distressed friend while Hana is too busy trying to keep it together.

"Y-You don't have to," she mumbles, her voice shaking.

"With the state you're in now I'd rather you not be alone." Though she doesn't say anything else she shows her gratitude by wrapping an arm around his waist. Their heights only differ by a few inches which makes it all the easier for them to walk side-by-side. "I might as well spend the night, too," he comments upon seeing her shaking slightly.

"No." Her voice still shakes, but there's determination lacing it. Despite her speaking to him her gaze stays pointed ahead. It isn't really fixated on anything for her thoughts are keeping most of her attention. "You have to work tomorrow and my place is too far away from the restaurant." She looks at him finally, offering him a smile that isn't very encouraging but still holds some strength to it. "I'll be fine, I promise."

Koda and her stop walking, both of them staring at each other. His eyes narrow at her but her smile doesn't falter despite the lack of confidence. It take a few more seconds before he gives in. "Fine. But call me if you need to talk." He stares at her for a moment before asking, "are you going to be all right?"

Hana nods, though her smile drops. "I'll. . . I'll come up with some new songs to keep myself distracted. You said the band wanted some new songs, right?" When he nods she continues. "Okay, I'll make some new ones then." They've begun walking again and because of the change of the topic she feels a little better. "I've had this tune in my head for a solid week now, so now I finally have an excuse to write it down."

"Is it the one you were humming earlier?"

"Yeah! That's the one." Her excitement is now palpable, though a bit of melancholy still lingers in her eyes. "It's really catchy. I've had it in my head ever since I started listening to this one really cool American rock band. They've become my new inspiration."

As she continues to ramble with Koda asking questions or commenting every few minutes they get ever closer to Hana's apartment. By the time she's listed all of the new ideas she's had they've arrived at her apartment. They exchange a long goodbye before he turns away and she enters her apartment. Once in the seclusion of her home her cheery façade breaks, revealing how upset the car crash really made her.

By the time she's finished crying it's already late, the sky having darkened long ago. Even if her tears have dried the crash will continue to haunt her for a while. It'll stress her out and make her jittery going outside for a while to come.

Yet, she'll move on. She'll have to, for even if she did not know it yet she would soon come to stress over something _far_ more important.


	2. Chapter 1

Hana can feel her heart practically racing a thousand beats per a minute as her breaths come in short pants. The sound of her own heartbeat thunders in her ears, drowning out the sounds around her. The stares of passerby don't go unnoticed but she pays them no mind as she focuses all of her attention on getting her legs to keep moving forward. She's only a bit out of shape yet it feels like she's been running forever.

She skids around a corner, apologizes for nearly knocking someone over, then rushes on despite the loud cursing at her. She'd rather not deal with an angry bystander when she's in such a hurry.

Finally, finally, she comes to a halt. Gasping, she bends over with her hands on her knees as she tries to catch her breath. It take a few minutes for her breathing to settle somewhat and her heart to slow its rapid pace. When she feels as if she's about collapse from exhaustion she stands to her full height and continues on down the alley, ignoring the concerned gazes cast her way. She looks like a mess with her hair sticking to whatever skin it can touch and sweat running down her face but she could care less. Her focus is on getting to her destination without collapsing.

The moment she stands in front of the location she had been in a hurry to get to she begins collect herself. Wiping a hand across her forehead then shaking off the sweat in disgust, she makes sure to make herself at least somewhat presentable. Once done with that she steps forward and into the building.

A bell rings above, signaling the owner that someone has entered. Her gaze roams around the small restaurant and when she finds that she's the only customer here she becomes immensely pleased. She loves having the place to herself, which is why she often comes here since the restaurant is almost never busy.

Plopping down on a stool, she watches with a raised brow as the owner hums to himself while washing some dishes. He finishes up a cup then turns, wiping his hands on his apron. No surprise shows on his features when he sees Hana sitting down in front of the counter.

"You're late," he comments gruffly as he eyes her. "And you look terrible. Did you run here again?"

"Yeah," she answers sheepishly. "I didn't want to ride the train."

He sighs and turns to begin cooking. She's come here so many times her order is more than likely a second nature to him. "It's been almost two weeks since the accident. Still don't trust them?"

Hana shakes her head. "No. I'd rather not risk my life even if they all say the danger has passed. Not after what I saw. . ."

The man doesn't comment, instead handing her a few napkins as he continues with cooking. She thanks him quietly and begins to wipe her face with them. Once satisfied with her appearance she throws them away and goes to sit back down. In the midst of cooking her order of coffee is completed—an expresso with light cream. She sips it quietly as she watches the TV.

"So, how's your schooling going?" He asks out of the blue while he's focusing on finishing up her food.

"Good. Passing everything but math, as usual."

"You should really hire a tutor to help with it."

Hana shrugs, taking a long drink of her coffee. He's right, as he always is, she really should hire a tutor to help with her math. She'd love to do just that so her father doesn't tell her off again, but, unless he helps pay for it she can't afford it. And after how he reacted last time to her asking for money she doesn't want to ever ask again.

"Here you are." He places her order in front of her—curry again, just the way she likes it.

"Thanks, Sojiro." The moment she thanks him she begins to wolf down her food. She's practically starving after running almost the whole way here. She'd been hungry before she had left as well, which only added to the insistent growling of her stomach while running. The moment the TV changes into the news is when Hana slows down in eating her food.

Both her and Sojiro turn to watch the news at almost the same time. Hana wasn't one to really watch it before, but ever since the accident she witnessed she finds herself watching it without much thought. Even if most of the talk on the news is minimal things she finds herself listening raptly to it.

Hana sighs when the news ends, turning back to her food. Though she's focused her gaze upon what's left of her curry she can still see Sojiro turn to her out of her peripheral.

"Hana, may I ask you something?"

She could practically feel the questions oozing off him moments before so it comes as no shock when he speaks. He had avoided asking her any questions last week as if he knew she'd rather not answer him, but now his curiosity must have over-brewed.

"What is it?" She finally replies. She knows exactly what he's going to ask before he even opens his mouth.

"Your father. . . has he been helping you with your apartment payments as of late?"

The teenager sighs, closes her eyes, then sets down her silverware. Her food is now all gone; thankfully she finished it before she lost her appetite. "No, he hasn't. I've been paying for all of it on my own," she replies.

Clearly that was not what Sojiro wanted to hear. He grunts and runs a hand across his face, his expression immensely displeased. "That man always makes promises that he never intends to keep. I swear, if he wasn't my friend I'd kick his ass."

"It's okay, Sojiro, really." Hana tries her best to make him feel better by smiling. The smile is half-hearted, but she still manages to make her voice sound cheerful. "He's still paying for my online schooling, so all I have to do is just pay rent. I make enough as a nail technician to pay it. There's really no need to worry."

"Don't lie to me, Hana," he snaps, gaze intense. She recoils a little, not used to Sojiro snapping at her. It's true that they've known each other so long thanks to Sojiro and her father's long time friendship, yet Hana never really sees him angry due to his cool attitude. "Your job is only an apprenticeship, so I know you don't make all that much. Not only are you paying rent but you have to buy groceries and other things as well."

She looks away from him, instead staring at her hands that are folded neatly in her lap.

"You're only a high school student, you shouldn't have so much on your shoulders." Sojiro sighs while Hana continues to keep her gaze down. "Tadashi, what am I going to do with you?" He asks that mainly to himself then looks back to the now crestfallen teen. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just that I'm worried for you."

"It's okay," she murmurs, not meeting his gaze even when she raises her head. "I understand."

Sojiro watches her for a silent minute while Hana twiddles her thumbs slowly. The silence isn't awkward, it being more as if the calm after a short storm. The older male breaks it first, his voice soft and kind.

"Let me help you pay for your rent. It's the least I can do for my goddaughter."

Hana's head snaps up, her olive eyes wide, as she raises her hands. "Oh no, you don't have to! I can manage Sojiro, I promise." The male gives her a look even as she continues to try and persuade him otherwise. "My rent really isn't that much, it's just everything else added on that's the problem. I assure you I can handle it, however."

He shakes his head, her adamance having been clear enough it seems. "Fine, but at least let me help you pay for you groceries."

Her small hands drop back down on her lap as she bites her lip. She has a feeling she won't be able to convince Sojiro otherwise; he's a stubborn man, just about as stubborn as her father. Neither of them will often take no for an answer. Sometimes she wonders how the two are even friends with their stubbornness often getting in the way.

Hana lets out a sigh, her shoulders slumping just a bit. "All right, fine. A warning, I'll only accept organic foods. I can't stomach any of that cheaply made food that everyone loves nowadays."

The older male nods. "That I can do. You're father and I spoiled you, didn't we?"

"Yeah, a little," she laughs. "Your cooking and dad's green thumb did it." As another customer comes in the two stop talking. During this time of silence for Hana she takes slow drinks of her cooling coffee. By the time Sojiro is done with his latest order she's setting the amount of yen she owes him on the counter.

"Leaving already?" Her godfather asks as she stands.

"Yeah, I have some homework I need to get done." She also needs to finish up on the song she started working on two nights ago lest Koda tell her off for slacking. If she didn't love her best friend she'd slap him for hurrying her. Songs take longer to complete than most think, especially when a lot of heart and emotion is being put into it.

Hana feels her phone buzz in her pocket and takes it out as she stands. As she's reading the message, which is from Koda, she begins to tread towards the door. "I'll see you late—"

Two gasps sound as Hana collides with someone. She has great view of a black blazer as she is pushed a little backwards by the force of the collision. Her balance, never being that great, begins to fail her as she tips a bit backwards. Before she can fall, however, a hand snatches out and grabs her shoulder, the stranger she bumped in to keeping her from falling.

Her eyes raise, meeting a pair of ashen gray colored eyes behind thick glasses. A blush arises on her cheeks as she stares open-mouthed at the cute stranger, not able to form a sentence right away. Once she finds her voice it comes out in a stuttering mess.

"I-I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going and—and. . ."

"It's all right," he murmurs. His voice is gentle, soothing, and deep—just like his gray eyes. She can see him furrow his brows as he studies her. "Are you okay?"

She animatedly nods a few times. The male studies her for another few seconds before his hand lifts from her shoulder. The moment that happens Hana steps around him, she says a quick goodbye to Sojiro and another sorry towards the boy before heading out of the shop. Hana is still blushing in embarrassment even after turning the corner.

"I really need to watch where I'm going," she grumbles to herself as she begins to walk down the alley. In a stressed manner she runs her fingers through her hair, then reaches for her phone. When she doesn't find it in either of her pockets she frowns and stops walking. "Where did that go. . .?"

"Hana!" A high-pitched voice calls out behind her. She turns and sees a familiar brunette heading her way, Hana's phone raised in the air. "There you are! I was looking for you, since I was told you were going to Leblanc, and then I ran into this cute boy who told me to find you and give this back to you. He said you dropped it after crashing into him."

"That's what happened to it! I'll have to thank him later." A small blush comes back at the memory of running into the gray eyed boy, yet it quickly fades away as she becomes distracted as her bubbly friend begins to talk up a storm.

"That boy was so cute! He's not really my type, you know, since I have a boyfriend, but I could see Haruhi liking him. What do you think? He kind of reminds me of Harry Potter now that I think about it. . ." She continues on, but Hana begins to drown out her rambling as she begins to think to herself.

Thanks to Sojiro she now doesn't really have to worry about buying food. He won't be paying for all of it, she'll make sure of that, but at least he'll be helping with it. It takes a lot of her already heavy feeling shoulders just with that little bit of help.

Now that she thinks about it, Sojiro's always been more willing to help Hana than her own father. She knows her father loves her, but, he has a special way of showing it. Sojiro on the other hand is everything one would think a father to be: he helps her when she needs it, is willing to listen to her problems, and tends to show more affection towards her. Her father does none of those things, preferring to only encourage her with her schooling and job. It's nice, don't get her wrong, but sometimes she wishes her father would act like an actual father.

"Hana, are you even listening to me?"

"Oh, sorry," she apologizes as looks over at the pouting female. "What were you saying? I got caught up in my thoughts."

"Never mind now," she huffs, pouting. "It seems you're a bit distracted now and I know you're probably thinking up a song, so I'll leave you to it."

"Oh, no I'm not. Really," she interrupts before her friend can speak, "go on ahead. I promise I'll pay attention."

A skeptical look is given at Hana before a shrug. "You really need a boyfriend. You think so much about songs I'm starting to wonder if you'd rather be dating them."

Hana snorts, "at least I don't have to worry about songs getting tired of me." She's shot a look of annoyance, which only makes Hana laugh. "I'm only pulling your leg. But seriously, I don't need a boyfriend right now. I've got too much to juggle already."

"If you had a boyfriend none of that would matter anymore."

"Maybe so, but boyfriend's are just as much as a commitment as my apprenticeship."

"Keep telling yourself that, Hana. Just keep telling yourself that."


	3. Chapter 2

In a delicate manner Hana's pointer finger moves under the notes she's written, her eyes skimming over it. Upon seeing a note out of place she grabs the pencil balanced on her ear and fixes it. Frowning some more, she places it beside the composition notebook and stares at all of the work she has. The song written upon the pages is near completed, the words as eloquent as any other song she creates, yet she's having trouble with the ending. The words just don't seem right.

When she finds no other words that could possibly help fix it she groans and rubs a hand down her face. She's been stuck on the ending for three hours—even countless breaks and searching online hasn't helped her come up with anything. It's frustrating her immensely that she can't finish the beautiful song she's been working on for a few days now.

"Koda's going to kill me," she grumbles to herself. Grabbing her guitar, she then readies to play through the song for the millionth time when her doorbell rings. "Son of a—!" Her words are growled out as she places her guitar back upon the bed and stands.

Hana grumbles incoherently as she trudges towards her door, her anger having flared now that her writing has been interrupted. She always turns her phone on silent when writing a song so she doesn't become distracted, so she's sure it'll either be Koda or one of the band members at her door asking if she's all right and why she wasn't answering their texts. Even if she's told them time and time again why she wasn't answering them, they still seem to like bothering her. Their ever ending curiosity and excitement is to blame.

"What do you want Ko—oh?" Instead of who she'd been expecting it's Sojiro. "Good evening, Sojiro. What are you doing here?"

He shows her some bags of groceries in his hands. "I told you I would help, so here I am."

Hana smiles, moving aside so he can come in. "Thank you so much, Sojiro. Really. I appreciate it a lot."

"It's no problem, Hana," he replies as he steps inside. "Oh," he looks back at Hana after she closes the door, "and Akira should be coming with more right behind me."

"Akira?" She asks, brows furrowing. No answer is given, instead there is a knock upon the door once again. Since her hand is still upon the doorknob she doesn't have to move at all to open it. She gasps once she sees who waits on the other side of the door. "It's you!"

"Hello," he greets politely, smiling softly at her. "There's still more groceries after these."

"O-oh, okay." The stunned teen opens the door fully to let him in, watching him raptly. Her cheeks are tinged a light pink just at the tinges of the memory of meeting the black haired male. "How much did you get Sojiro?"

"Not much since the store was near closing," he responds as she walks into the kitchen. Sojiro's busied himself with putting food away in there proper places, but does turn to gesture to the young male then to Hana. "Akira, meet Hana. Hana, meet Akira."

Akira pauses in what he's doing and turns to Hana. A smile lights up his features, making Hana pause in her steps. "It's nice to meet you, Hana." His next words are given with almost a small smirk, his gray eyes sparkling. "I'm happy to actually see you face, as well, instead of your hair."

Hana's blush deepens. "I-I'm so sorry about that! I should've apologized better and—and. . ." Akira's soft laughter makes her pause. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry, sorry, I just couldn't help myself," he says as his laughter dies. "You seem pretty easy to fluster. Don't worry about what happened, Hana. It was nothing."

She grumbles a bit more before beginning to put the rest of the food away. In the middle of her putting away some food in the fridge the younger male states he's going to go get the rest of the groceries. Thanking the stars for his perfect timing, she waits for him to go through the door then turns to Sojiro. "Hey, no smoking in my apartment," she scolds him upon seeing the unlit cigarette in his hand.

"Right, sorry," he apologizes, putting it away. "You look like you want to ask me something." He doesn't ask, merely stating what he sees upon her features. When she hesitates he raises a brow. "Well, what is it?"

"Is he the one living above Leblanc?" Hana asks almost hesitantly.

Sojiro sighs, leans against the kitchen counter, then places a hand behind his neck. "You noticed, didn't you?" When she nods he continues. "Yes, he is." He explains no further, peaking Hana's curiosity.

Hana mimics his pose, though she places her hands behind her on the counter as a support. "So, what's the story?" Still Sojiro doesn't answer, making Hana even more curious. Now she's beginning to speculate that story is much worse than she initially thought. "C'mon Sojiro, tell me. Who am I going to tell?"

The man lets out a sigh, swiveling his head in his usual mannerism before finally looking at her. "Akira is on probation for sticking his nose into someone else's business. Basically when he tried to help a woman being harassed by a man he got hurt and sued Akira. His parents kicked him out and I took him in for the remainder of his probation."

What he says make Hana frown and her dark brows furrow. "That's messed up. How could some man like that get away with something so horrible?" She shakes her head, letting out a quick sigh. "I feel bad for Akira."

"Don't, this is what he deserves for jumping into another's business." Hana eyes Sojiro after he says that, not agreeing with him at all. She won't say anything else however, especially since Akira comes through the door again with the last of the groceries.

"Ah, there you are," Hana grins, forgetting about what Sojiro said for the moment. She'll make sure to ask Akira more on the subject whenever she has time alone with him. "I was waiting for you to come back before I asked this. Would you guys like to stay for dinner? It's about that time now."

"I'd love to, Hana," Sojiro answers with a smile. "What about you, kid? Or do you have other plans?"

When Akira shakes his head, Hana claps once in an excited manner. "Good! I'll cook, you guys can just—."

"Oh no, I'm helping you," Sojiro says as he turns to the sink to wash his hands. "I don't run a restaurant for nothing, after all." He looks at Akira over his shoulder. "You help, too."

"Right," Akira responds. His gaze turns to Hana, a small smile once again upon his face. "Have anything special in mind?"

Hana fires a smile back at him. With three working hands she's sure cooking will take a lot less longer. "I do, but you'll have to wait and see," she teases with a wink.


End file.
